Le mari de l'indienne

As all film buffs know Cecil B. DeMille's first version of The Squaw Man was the very first film done in what we now call Hollywood. He did a second silent version and for his third film on his MGM hiatus from Paramount he did it once again.

Third time was not the charm. Although the actors, especially Warner Baxter as the disgraced English Earl who goes to the American west and meets, weds, and beds an Indian maiden, Lupe Velez are competent and sincere the film is terribly dated. Depression audiences simply were not interested in a Victorian morality tale with a dose of the British stiff upper lip.

It all sounds so quaint and ridiculous. Baxter is accused of embezzlement and he knows who the culprit is, but won't inform because he doesn't want to disgrace the other guy's family. So with admirable rectitude he heads west and make a new life in America.

He also manages to make an enemy of Charles Bickford who was another rancher who covets his land. But Baxter finds love with Lupe, as did most of Hollywood in real life, and he has a son who will in fact inherit his title.

Cecil B. DeMille was a child of his time. Melodramas like The Squaw Man was the stuff that the legitimate theater did when he grew up and learned his trade from David Belasco.

But audiences weren't buying it in 1931, people had real issues about where the next meal was coming from and could they find work. A story about some Victorian honor code just wasn't marketable.

It's a sincere film though and it might be worth a look to judge what public tastes were at the turn of the last century and before the Roaring Twenties.

It's not exactly perfect that a Mexican-American actress, Lupe Vélez, is plugged in as a Native-American in the third and final version of this film, but it's better to see her than someone like Myrna Loy (no offense Myrna, you know I adore you). And in addition to seeing a person of color in a dramatic and romantic role, the side benefit is that unlike most of her other films, Vélez's character is not some high-strung Latina who has to have a scene or two of animated screaming. Here her character is quiet, doleful, determined, strong, and caring, giving us another side of her as an actress, and her performance is at least as good as the other films I've seen her in, if not better. After being saved by a transplanted Englishman (Warner Baxter) from being assaulted in a saloon, something that would likely have led to rape, her character returns the favor with steely resolve by saving him not once but twice. Vélez has several fine scenes, one of which is when she's in front of the fireplace on a stormy night, radiating soft sensuality. Later she has a perfect reaction to her young son wanting to play with his new train set more than her traditional, handmade horse. It reflects the timeless clash of cultural assimilation, and immigrant parents with kids more drawn to the newer culture they are surrounded by may identify. In several moments throughout the film, Vélez's emotions are conveyed silently through her eyes, and they're all pretty compelling.

Unfortunately, there are also aspects of the character that are harder to like, starting with the broken English she has to speak. It may have been the reality for such a character, but here it's so slow and awkward, and not accompanied with enough other nuance that might help us see that she's just as intelligent despite not being fluent in a second language. And that's at the heart of the issue - the film puts her in a positive light, but it's in a condescending, paternalistic way. She can be attractive, strong, faithful, and a great wife and mother - but she can't be just as smart or the equal of her husband. This culminates in the film's absolute worst moment, when he decides to send their son off to England to get a better education and to have more opportunity, essentially ripping the boy from his mother over her objections. It would be too easy and simplistic to equate this to the heartless and cruel policies of the current American administration at the border, but I have to say I thought of it, and that's not exactly a selling point for the movie. As he talks about this to his friend, he mentions his wife is "primitive" and simply can't understand the British Empire, which was disgusting. It's a white man's world, and as Vélez is neither, she is two steps down in it.

At least the film shows the emotional impact this has on her (in another fine scene from Vélez), and sympathizes with the happy life she's lost in the final images. I also liked how her husband stands by her and refers to her as Mrs. Jim Wingate despite challenges from bothersome locals, and the reappearance of his old (Caucasian) flame (Eleanor Boardman). The film is actually showing us a happy interracial marriage, something that was dangerous and still illegal in many states.

Overall though, it's a little rough going because of the racism and sexism, even if they are milder forms of it, and I debated a lower rating. However, the film scored enough points with me, and exceeded the expectations that I had formed based on its awful title. If you're disenchanted early on, have patience; the only saving grace to a creaky start in England which suffers from a slow pace and poor audio quality is Boardman, who plays her earnest but conflicted role well, and is also quite pretty here. Once the action moves to the American West, Director Cecil B. DeMille tells a good story, one with inevitable conflicts for this couple, and gets some nice shots on location in Arizona. I also loved seeing Dickie Moore, who is just adorable as their son.

An English aristocrat becomes 'THE SQUAW MAN' after leaving Britain under mysterious circumstances and marrying an Indian maiden in the American West.

At the end of the Silent Era, famed director Cecil B. DeMille signed a deal with MGM to produce three pictures over three years. For the first two--DYNAMITE (1929) and MADAM Satan (1930)--he pulled out all the stops to present lavish photoplays of New York high society, with a mine cave-in and a dirigible disaster to liven things up.

For his third film at MGM DeMille returned to his favorite story, which he'd already filmed twice before as a silent. For this talkie version he kept the story simple, without special effects or unnecessary melodrama. He also made outstanding use of filming on location in Arizona. The result is a well-made film with a poignant storyline and an emotionally gripping conclusion.

While Warner Baxter's American accent makes him rather unbelievable as an Englishman, this can be easily overlooked because of his fine performance. Steadfast & strong, he makes a sturdy hero. But acting honors go to Lupe Velez, who strips away all unnecessary technique & mannerisms to deliver an uncomplicated, heartbreaking portrayal of a primitive woman wholly devoted to the man she adores and their son. Without even trying, she completely dominates the film.

The rest of the cast also make their mark in much smaller roles: beautiful Eleanor Boardman as the titled Englishwoman Baxter loves; owlish Roland Young as Baxter's best friend; shifty Paul Cavanagh as the feckless Earl of Kerhill; and Julia Faye as a fox hunting American widow.

Out West, the cast includes angry Charles Bickford as a murderous rancher intent on grabbing Buzzards Pass from Baxter; bullying DeWitt Jennings as the corrupt sheriff of Maverick; J. Farrell MacDonald as Baxter's loyal ranch hand; and little Dickie Moore, one of the OUR GANG kids, as the lively son of Baxter & Velez. Wizened old Luke Cosgrave gives a few humorous moments as the cantankerous driver of a desert jalopy.

DeMille's sojourn at MGM was not a commercial success for the Studio. His contract wasn't extended and he returned to Paramount, where he would soon commence on some of the most popular films of his career.

... courtesy of MGM. Warner Baxter stars as English gentleman Jim Wingate. He's in love with Lady Diana Kerhill (Eleanor Boardman), only Diana is the wife of Jim's cousin Henry (Paul Cavanaugh). When Henry steals some pensioner funds, and the theft is discovered, Jim gets the blame. Instead of clearing his name, he heads to the US, where he changes his name and becomes a cattle rancher out West. His problems are just beginning though, as fiendish rival rancher Cash Hawkins (Charles Bickford) wants Jim's land, and local native girl Naturich (Lupe Velez) falls in love with Jim. Will Jim return her affection and risk being called a "squaw man" by the other townsfolk?

I'm not sure why DeMille was so enamored of this story, but the audiences of the day apparently weren't, as this proved to be a costly failure at the box office. Baxter, with his pencil mustache and greasy hair, doesn't sound or act British, nor does he seem to fit in the Western setting. Velez, as pretty as ever, and getting a titillating scene where she undresses before an embarrassed Baxter, also has professional-grade movie makeup in most scenes, which is not quite the look of a poor native woman. Most of the film isn't actively awful, really, just unexceptional.

It was three and out for DeMille at MGM - the experimental sound film Dynamite, the bizarre precode musical Madam Satan, and finally back to basics with The Squaw Man. Fired from MGM, he took a cruise to decide what to do next, and went back home to Paramount for the rest of his career. He had started out there, and except for his brief stint as an independent filmmaker and then as a director at MGM, it really was his cinematic home.

Considering that this film was made in 1931, it sure looks more like a silent film with words rather than a more modern looking film. In 1931 we had films like "Frankenstein", "Cimarron", "Mata Hari", "City Lights", "Dracula", "M", "Public Enemy", "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde", and "Monkey Business". All of these films had better acting, camera work and better use of sound, and they all had a more modern script. "The Squaw Man" was the third filming of the play, all of them by Cecil B. DeMille. The play was written in 1905 and starred future famous silent film cowboy William S. Hart. It ran for nearly a year and was revived several times, then spawned a novel. But all 3 versions held steady to the Victorian plot, and even by 1931 it seems dated.